Blankets
by hotforstendan
Summary: Ste gets kicked out of his room following an arguement with Doug, then later finds comfort in the Brady household. One-shot, a little fluffy, please review as this is one of my first fics. x


Ste fidgeted about as he lay on the sofa wide awake. He was a bit too tall, so his feet hung off the end if he stretched out, but apart from that is was rather comfy. Nothing compared to his actual bed though, which he would be in if it wasn't for Doug's stupid schemes and lies causing the major fallout which ended with Ste in the living room.

He was freezing, lying in just his boxers with only one of Leah's spare pink blankets to cover his flesh, exposed to the cold of late November. Plus, Lucas had messed with the thermostat so much it was now stuck in the off position, a thing Doug said he would fix a week ago, but got side-tracked by 'important issues', again. Trying to get one of his husband's best friends locked up sure seemed like a_ great_ use of his time.  
Ste wondered for a brief moment if maybe Doug was doing all this to try to push Ste away on purpose, surely he would have realised if he'd succeeded in his stupid mission it would have upset the man he's _supposed_ to love.

But that thought was short lived, Ste's mind was more occupied with the decision of whether or not he should brave the trip into his bedroom where Doug was sleeping to get some more clothes. Although, Ste realised he probably wasn't asleep anyway, after checking his phone to see the time was 11:38, only 20 odd minutes after he'd stormed out the room.

22 more freezing minutes took the wide awake Ste to midnight. By now, he'd decided going into the bedroom would be a bad idea, as Doug's a very light sleeper and the few floorboards that creaked in the doorway were bound to stir him. Yet he couldn't lay on that sofa any longer, there were too many thoughts rattling round inside his brain keeping him awake, so he decided he was going to vent to someone. And that someone was Cheryl, she'd understand.

Ste let out a sigh of relief when he finally reached the door of the Brady flat. He'd gotten some dodgy looks while he'd been running through the streets in just his boxers and a jacket, making him a little self-conscious, so he was glad he was out of view now. He curled his stiff, frozen fingers into a loose fist and knocked on the door, while keeping himself somewhat warm with what would look like dad-dancing to anyone else.

The door swung open to an unexpected, but certainly familiar moustachioed man, whiskey in hand. "Need the loo or summit?"

"Huh?" Ste then realised he was still dancing on the spot, and quickly stopped. He blushed with slight embarrassment, "Uh… No, just cold."

"Not surprised," Brendan slowly looked down Ste's body, then met his eyes again. "What did you want?"

"Is Cheryl in?"

"She'd having a night out with the girls. I'll tell her you dropped by though"

Ste hadn't considered this, but still _'A problem shared is a problem halved' _and all that. He could talk to Brendan, they were good mates, they understood each other, and besides, he's better than nobody, better than bottling it all up.

"Are _you_ busy?"

"Never too busy for you, Steven." He smirked to the side, making Ste laugh a little in response. "Come in, I'll get you a blanket or whatever, warm you up a tad, eh."

Ste smiled as he found himself watching Brendan's toned bum walk up the stairs. He blinked hard in realisation, "You're a married man, Ste. Stop it" he whispered to himself, before walking in and shutting the door behind him. He already felt warmer, it was always quite warm in Brendan's flat but now it was like a sauna compared to the bitterness of outside, especially as he was practically stark naked under that thin jacket.

Brendan came down the stairs with a pair of his tracksuit bottoms, which he didn't think would fit Ste but were actually alright once he'd put them on, and a thick fleeced blanket. He sat down on the sofa and tapped the seat, then wrapped Ste in the blanket as he sat down next to him.  
"You know Bren, I think I need to get me self a pair of these. Well comfy, ent they?

"Mm. didn't take that pair off for 3 days when I was in me chair"

"Lovely... I was well worried about ya then, don't know why, i mean, you're Brendan Brady!" Ste paused in what seemed a sudden moment of realization, "We've both nearly died. Weird to think about it like that, really…"

"Please, don't remind me…"

"Why?"

"I didn't think you'd make it, Steven. You looked so weak an'all"

"Oi, I've been working out, me" Ste flexes his arms, which brought a smile to Brendan's face.

"If you say so... now c'mon, what's brought you here at midnight, eh?"

"Me and Doug had a massive fight. He kicked me out to sleep on the sofa" Ste looked up, eyes locking with Brendan's, who seemed a little concerned, "He was trying to get you locked up. He had a recording of you confessing…about Danny" more fear than concern showed in Brendan's eyes now. "I deleted it, don't worry. It's just… I think me and Doug are falling apart. We're nothing like we used to be. We just never seem to get on anymore!"

Brendan shuffled across the sofa, grabbing one end of the blanket and wrapping over himself so that both he and Ste were in it. "Don't throw away what you've got with Doug. He's a good lad at heart, and you've got a great thing going with him. Marriage is hard, takes time to adjust. It'll be fine."

"I know, everyones been saying that but, I think I'm in love with... someone else."

"Lucky man." Brendan felt his heart flutter, hoping with everything he had that the 'someone else' was himself. But he doubted it, he'd had enough second chances from Ste already, he'd bound to have seen sense by now.

"Actually, I'm the lucky one." Ste's nerves began to kick in, which showed in his shaky voice, yet he found some comfort by putting his cold hand on top of Brendan's and interlocking their fingers, "Because that someone else, is right here with me."


End file.
